


Tell Me a Story

by Doranwen



Category: Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Dialogue-Only, Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 07:44:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11459127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doranwen/pseuds/Doranwen
Summary: Jesse tells his little girl a bedtime story.





	Tell Me a Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/gifts).



"Tell me a story, Daddy."

"What kind of story?"

"Tell me a true story."

"A true story, hmm…"

"About a girl like me."

"I don't know if I know any stories about girls like you. You're one-of-a-kind."

"Daddy! You're silly."

"I can tell you a story about a queen, though. A queen named Leslie."

"That's my name, Daddy!"

"That it is. I named you after her."

"You did?"

"Sure did. You want to hear the story?"

"Tell me, Daddy!"

"It happened when I was only a little older than you. I was ten and about to start fifth grade. And my sister May Belle was six."

"Auntie May Belle?"

"That's right. There were two things I liked to do then, and that was to draw and to run."

"Like the pictures you make all the time?"

"Just like those. Though I'm a lot better at them now; art is something that takes lots of practice."

"I like drawing."

"I know; you draw lots of pretty pictures for me. Maybe you'll be an artist like me someday. Anyway, I met Leslie about a week before the first day of school. She saw me practicing running."

"Like you do with Mommy?"

"Sort of. The races Mommy and I run in, they give you a medal if you win. But back then I was just racing against the other boys at the school."

"Did you win?"

"Once. I wanted to win the first day of school, but Leslie raced against me, and guess what?"

"What?"

" **She** won! I was really surprised, because back then, the girls never raced with the boys."

"Why not? Did they race by themselves?"

"I don't know why not. They didn't race at all."

"Not like Mommy."

"Definitely not."

"I'll bet if Mommy had been there then, she'd have raced with you too, just like Leslie did."

"That sounds like something Mommy would do. That's how I met her, you know; she was racing with me and I had to find out who that pretty lady was."

"Wait, Daddy, I thought you said Leslie was a queen. What was she doing at school?"

"I'll get to that part. So I wasn't very happy with Leslie because I wanted to be the fastest, and I only came in second because of her. It took me a while to make friends with her, but I was glad I did. She and I made up a secret country in the woods, where we were the king and queen."

"So she just pretended to be a queen?"

"Well, yes, but I think somewhere inside she was always a queen anyway. You'll understand what I mean when you get a little older."

"Oh. And you pretended to be the king, Daddy?"

"King Jesse, at your service."

"You look funny when you bow, Daddy!"

"I never did get very good at that. Leslie was the one who knew how to act like royalty."

"What was the country called?"

"She called it Terabithia. She read about a land like that in a book. The whole place felt like magic. There was a grove where the spirits lived, and we would pretend to protect all the plants and animals. We even had a prince."

"A prince? Was there a princess?"

"Later there was. But this prince was a dog."

"A dog! How can a dog be a prince? That's silly."

"He was a silly dog. We called him Prince Terrien. He was Leslie's Christmas present."

"Who was the princess?"

"Auntie Joyce Ann was the princess. She was about your age at the time, I think."

"What about Auntie May Belle?"

"Oh, she was the queen then."

"But you said Leslie was the queen."

"She was. But… you see, we used to use a rope swing to get to Terabithia, and one day it broke when Leslie used it."

"Did she get hurt?"

"She hit her head, and fell into the water, and couldn't wake up to get back out of it. So she died, like Grandpa last month."

"Were you sad, Daddy?"

"Yes, I was very sad. I cried a lot, like you saw Auntie May Belle and Auntie Joyce Ann crying at the funeral."

"Is she an angel now?"

"I don't think she was ever an angel, no. Lord, you should have heard the things she thought up in class when the teacher thought she was paying attention! But she was special, real special. And that's why I had to name you Leslie."

"Why?"

"Because as soon as I laid eyes on you, I said to myself, 'Boy, that girl is going to be something special. She's got to have a special name.' And Leslie was the most special name I knew."

"Daddy?"

"What, sweetheart?"

"I think that's a sad story."

"That's because that's not the end of it."

"It isn't?"

"Nope. See, because of Leslie, I invited Auntie May Belle to be the new queen of Terabithia. That's why she and I are such good friends. And I think that's how she got started writing stories."

"Like all the books she gave me?"

"That's right. She's written a lot of books for children like you. And making Auntie Joyce Ann the princess later, I think was the reason why she ended up as an actress today."

"On TV?"

"Yes; she started acting in high school and got so good at it that she acts in TV shows now. But I think it was all because she was a princess in Terabithia."

"What about you, Daddy?"

"Oh, I have it the best of all. I was remembering Leslie when I met your mommy, and I think that's why I started talking to her. So you see, Leslie is the reason I have Mommy, and if I didn't have Mommy, I wouldn't have you!"

"Is that the end of the story?"

"Close your eyes and I'll tell you the end of the story."

"OK."

"Are they closed?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"All right. Now, the Terabithians had waited a very very long time for a new queen. Queen Leslie had died, and Queen May Belle and Princess Joyce Ann had grown up and left the country. But King Jesse had not forgotten the country, and one day he had a baby girl. He named the baby girl Leslie, because she was special just like the first Leslie, and when she was old enough, he took her to the forest, where the Terabithians waited. He put a crown on her head and led her down the path, and the Terabithians all watched because they had been looking forward to the new princess for years and years and years. Leslie? Are you asleep already? I'll tell you about it tomorrow, then. I love you."


End file.
